TABLE 2.

Ranked proportions of sodium consumed by children aged 6–18 years,^* by selected food categories, household income status, and weight status — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2009–2010

		Household income relative to federal poverty level			Weight status†
		≤130%	>130%–185%	>185%	Normal	Overweight/Obese
Rank§	Food category¶	% (SE)	% (SE)	% (SE)	% (SE)	% (SE)
1	Pizza	8.5 (1.3)	9.4 (2.3)	8.5 (1.4)	8.5 (1.2)	8.1 (1.0)
2	Yeast breads/rolls/buns**	5.6 (0.5)	5.5 (0.4)	6.0 (0.5)	6.0 (0.4)	5.4 (0.3)
3	Cold cuts/cured meats	4.6 (0.6)	2.4 (0.7)	5.5 (0.7)	5.3 (0.7)	3.9 (0.4)
4	Savory snacks††	3.9 (0.3)	5.7 (0.6)	3.8 (0.3)	4.2 (0.4)	4.5 (0.3)
5	Sandwiches (single code)§§	4.6 (0.7)	5.1 (1.1)	3.8 (0.4)	3.3 (0.4)	5.4 (0.8)
6	Cheese	3.9 (0.4)	3.2 (0.5)	3.6 (0.3)	3.7 (0.3)	3.4 (0.3)
7	Chicken patties/nuggets/tenders¶¶	3.5 (0.6)	3.7 (0.8)	3.5 (0.8)	3.3 (0.9)	3.8 (0.5)
8	Pasta mixed dishes***	3.2 (0.7)	2.7 (0.6)	3.2 (0.6)	3.3 (0.7)	2.9 (0.4)
9	Mexican mixed dishes†††	2.9 (0.8)	3.7 (1.1)	2.9 (0.7)	3.3 (0.5)	2.2 (0.3)
10	Soups	3.2 (0.3)	3.9 (1.0)	2.4 (0.3)	2.6 (0.4)	3.4 (0.6)
Mean daily sodium consumed
As measured in mg		3,316 §§§	2,879	3,320	3,280	3,270
(SE)		(75)	(117)	(136)	(100)	(107)
Mean daily energy consumed
As measured in kcal		2,007	1,881	2030	2,030	1,992
(SE)		(38)	(82)	(57)	(45)	(49)
Mean daily sodium density
As measured in mg/1,000 kcal		1,667	1,562	1,645	1,629	1,654
(SE)		(17)	(41)	(21)	(17)	(27)
Unweighted no. of participants in sample		931	285	859	1352	834

Abbreviation: SE = standard error.

^*The proportion (%) of sodium consumed is defined as the sum of the amount of sodium consumed from each specific food category for all participants divided by the sum of sodium consumed from all food categories for all participants multiplied by 100. All estimates use 24-hour dietary recall, take into account the complex sampling design, and use dietary day 1 sample weights to account for nonresponse and weekend/weekday recalls.

^†Normal was defined as a body mass index (BMI) for age and sex between the 5th and 85th percentiles. Overweight/obese was defined as a BMI for age and sex ≥85th percentile, based on specific reference values from the 2000 CDC growth charts.

^§Rank based on proportions of sodium consumed for the overall U.S. population aged 6–18 years. Columns for other groups are ordered by this ranking.

^¶Additional information regarding food categorization is available at the What We Eat in America website, http://www.ars.usda.gov/services/docs.htm?docid=18349. Food categories contributing ≥3% to overall sodium consumption within specific sociodemographic and weight status groups but not listed among the top 10 contributors overall were as follows: children with family income ≤130% of the federal poverty level, tomato-based condiments (3.5%), chicken whole pieces and other poultry (3.5%); family income >130%–185% of the poverty level, frankfurters and sausages (3.0%), dips, gravies, and other sauces (3.0%); overweight/obese children, tomato-based condiments (3.5%), chicken whole pieces and other poultry (3.1%).

^**Yeast breads/rolls and buns, excludes bagels and English muffins.

^††Tortilla, corn, and other chips/pretzels/snack mix/potato chips/popcorn.

^§§Sandwiches as identified by a single What We Eat in America code, chicken or turkey sandwiches/burgers/egg/breakfast sandwiches/other sandwiches (e.g., corn dog).

^¶¶Excludes chicken whole pieces and turkey, duck, and other poultry.

^***e.g., spaghetti with meat sauce or meat balls (excludes macaroni and cheese).

^†††Burritos and tacos/nachos/other Mexican mixed dishes.

^§§§Statistically significant differences in mean sodium intake across subgroups, determined by the Wald F test, p=0.01.